Well packer



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n 00000000000000090 oooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooo n oooooooooooooooo J. P. PUGH ET AL WELL PACKER Filed March 19, 1927 @7W b l'fozumj 00000000000000000 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Dec. 18, 1928.

, of such a natureas to warrant its comple- Patented Dec. 18, 1928., y

JOHN r. PUGH ANDW'ILL'IAM c. CLARK, or sHREvEPoR'r, LoIsIANA.

WELL PACKER.

The object of this invention is to provide a well packer suitable for use in oil, gas and w water wells, for the purpose of ascertalnmg, v

after the drilling has proceeded to what` is deemed a proper depth, whether the well 1s tion. l

This packer is adapted for use before any ycasing isset in the well, and thereby enables vthe driller'to determine the probable value of the well without necessitating the expense of A,setting the well casing.

The invention consists, broadly, in'a well packer, including a bearing tube provided. at one end with means for v.connecting it to andsuspending'it from a string `of drill rod or tubing, and havingat its other end means for ,l connecting to it the perforated liner generhaving its sliding movement relatively therel `to limited by these connectingmeans,l vcornally used in drilling operations, and a packer member slidably mounted upon the tube and bined with a Afrangible diaphragm arranged to close the tube to normallyprevent passage therethrough and into the string of drill tub-A ing of mud, water and other substances contained in the well, the breaking of this diaphragm presenting an open passage from the bottom of the well to the surface of the ground,4 as we will ad finally claim.

In the. accompanying drawings' illustrating the invention, in the several' figures of Which like parts are similarly designated, Fig. 1 is an elevation of the packer with its parts in the positions assumed ,while itis be'- ing lowered into the well. Fig. 2 is a longie 'tudinal axial section showing the parts in the position assumed when the packer has come to a seat.'

The packer comprises, essentially, a bear-` ing tube 1, provided at ne end, its normally lower end, with a collar 2 screwthreaded or otherwise prepared as at 3 to have connected to itthe usual perforated liner 4 terminating in a bull plug 5. At its other, or 'norinally upper, end the tube 1 is preferably threaded to yreceive a coupling member 6 whereby ,the packer may be connected to a Istring of drill rod or tubing Z, only a portion of ,which is shown.

' AW'ithin the coupling member 6, and between a shoulder 8l therein and a'follower ring 9, is mounted a frangible diaphragm 10, of glass or some other relatively strong material which may be shattered bya blow.

proceed now to. explain This diaphragm' is' s priate washers or packing rings 11.

placed between 'appro-I Mounted upon the tube 1 between the collar- 2 and coupling member 6, and having a rela-.

tively easy sliding lit on said tube, is a sleeve 12 provided with a shoulder 13 and carrying a packer memberI 14, preferably composed of a plurality of circular perforated disks or rings of, rubberized fabric 0r other partially compres/sible or rigid material stacked one above the other agalnst the shoulder 13. The

packer member may be cylindrical, or it may be frusto-coni'cal as desired, or as circumstances demand. vThls packer member is se# curely held upon'the sleve`12 by-means of a nut 15- which is screwed down tight upon the top of the packermember by means of its threaded cpnnectionl with'the upper end of the sleeve. This nut is provided with a gasket 17 which intimately engages the tube 1, Y Land the nut has sockets 18 in its sides-for the v reception ofa spanner wrench bywhich it v may be adjusted. Y The parts 2, 6 and 15 may be knurled as at 19, if desired, to present a lgood friction'alsurface for engagement by a wrench or other turning or securing tool. In order to facilitate the removal'of the vpackerfrom the well, after, it has served its purpose, as will be-hereinafter explained, the tube -1 is provided with a number of open-y ings 20, these openings being covered by the sleeve `12-when the packer is seated, and un# covered when it is being raised or lowered.

In drillingl wells for oil, gas or water, it is customary to drill a hole 21 of a diameter approximating nine inches to such a depth as thedriller believes will bring the hole in proximity to the oil, gas or water-bearing stratum, and then to continue drilling for a short dis` tance with a'drill of less diameter, say approximately six inches; until it is thoughtthat the oil, gas` or Water-bearing stratum has been reached. 'The hole thus drilled will therefore have its greatest depth ofone diameter, and its lowermostportion of a smaller diameter? thus 'forming a shoulder -22, as l shownin the drawings.

The portion 23 of the hole drilled last and of a smaller diameter, is called a rat hole and it is into this rat hole 'that' the oil', gas

or Watervirst flows. Our packer is designed to seal this rat hole from the main bore of the well so that themud and other substances contained therein may not enter the rat hole and the substances contained in the In using our the sleeve 12 resting upon the collar 13.l

When the packermember passesn partially into the rat hole. its body will find a seat at the 'shoulder 22 and the `weight of` the packer and string of tubing vwill firmly wedge the packer member into the rat hole,;the

bearing tube meanwhile' sliding downwardly i through the sleeve 12 until the coupling member 6 comes into Contact with the nut 15, as

' f shown in Fig. 2. Tliisadjustment of thetube l f 3o 1 will cover the openings 20, andit will thus be seen that the rat-hole .23 is completely sealed from the rest of the well bore 21. Y

Obviously, the lpacker will be completely surrounded by mud and the like, both in the portion21 of the bore and in the rat hole 23, and this mud must be'removedbefore a test can be made. y

In order to remove the mud and .make thel test,'the diaphragm 10 must be broken, and this is done by loweringl a bailer or other heavy implement-in the spring of tubing 7 so that it strikes against the diaphragm. After the diaphragm has been broken it will `be seen that an unobstructed passage is formed from the bottom of the rat hole to the surface of the ground. This assage en ablesthe driller to bail the frat ole, take samples of what has been struck, or operate the well experimentally lto determine its yield without going to the labor and expense of set-e ting a well casing.v

iWhenvit desired to remove the packer, it is simply raised by raising the drill tubing 7, and if it has become stuck itmay raislng and lowering the tube 1 s'o that the collar 2 strikes sharply against the bottom' of the :-:-l %eve'12.y Y As the packer'is raised out of the well it assumes the position shown in Fig.` 1 with -reopenings 20,- and' if diiculty is experienced in pulling it, water may be` forced down 'the tubing 7, and this water escaping through the openings 20 will, in a sense, lubricate the packer and facilitate `its withdrawal.

Ourl packer is simple and sturdy in con-.; struction, lends itself readily to replacements 'f and repairs being easilytaken apart and as-` sembled, and is relatively. inexpensive' to manufacture.

Obviously, the packer may-be left at -the' be disf vlodged by giving 'it a sharpprapv or :twfo by lation to the ltube 1, v'thus yuncovering the.

bottom ofthe well for as long a period-'as de-y sired, andra'pumping device mav be lconnectthewell' before `it is put on standard equip- 'ment'v or abandoned.

'ed with itand the well thus operated, thereby insuring a thorough testof the capacityvof Various changes are contemplated as with- I in the spirit of the invention and the scope of the following claim. What we claim is In awell packer, a bearing tube having upper and lower stops and p'erforations be` tween said stops, a packer sleeve slidable on the tube between said stops and arranged to normally uncover said perforations, and to cover the same when thejsl'eeve is slid upwardly, and a frangible pa-rtition,at the upf per end' of the tube,`above said' perforations.

In testimony whereof we have lhereunto set our hands this 15th day of March A. D,

y JOHN P. PUGI-I. t WILLIAM C. CLARK. 

